Category: Science and Tech

Lighter regulation could make loans more accessible and help level the playing field for small banks against big ones. But critics warn of risks in legislation rolling back Dodd-Frank protections against a financial crisis. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 4:21 pm Support Us

‘Lady Bird,’ which stars Saoirse Ronan as the title character, is available on DVD and Blu-ray, the Pocket Universe app can test you on stars, and more top picks. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 4:06 pm Support Us

To 7-year-old Naomi Vaughan, her fossil find is her ‘Moana rock’ because of its resemblance to the spiral necklace in the Disney film. The pearlescent rock is an ammonite fossil, a marine invertebrate that became extinct more than 65 million years ago. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 3:36 pm Support Us

‘Tomb Raider’ stars Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, who is attempting to solve the mystery of her tycoon father’s mysterious seven-year disappearance. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 3:21 pm Support Us

After Sunday’s election, Vladimir Putin will have to address geopolitical crises and economic reforms he has been putting off – and find his successor – before he likely leaves the Kremlin for good in six years. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 3:21 pm Support Us

Today’s column explores how we can overcome the pull of sensationalized news through understanding that there’s a higher power we can rely on to inform our actions. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 3:06 pm Support Us

Maud’s Cafe, a new coffee shop in Salt Lake City, hires homeless youth as baristas, through an initiative by Volunteers of America-Utah. The coffee shop and the nonprofit’s resource center provide young people with a trusted community and job training. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 3:06 pm Support Us

Rainy Roth is a volunteer for Crisis Text Line, drawing on her own experiences as a child. ‘If I can reach out to one texter and tell that person, “I get it,” then the texter will understand it will be OK,’ she says. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:51 pm Support Us

The influx of salt water from rising sea levels has been incredibly destructive in low-lying Bangladesh. But for many agricultural communities, farming mud crabs may be key to fighting the economic damages brought on by flooding. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:51 pm Support Us

A California law requires pregnancy centers that don’t provide abortion services to offer information on what other local facilities perform the procedure. Advocates against abortion challenged the law and the case will be heard by the Supreme Court. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:36 pm Support Us

The Russian president has become increasingly assertive on the world stage. The question now is whether he’ll continue on this path. A biweekly column on patterns in diplomacy Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21 pm Support Us

A recent RAND Corp. study found the Los Angeles county initiative, Housing For Health, which integrates permanent housing with health care for homeless people, has saved tax-payer dollars and caused participants’ inpatient days to plummet. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21 pm Support Us

A team of researchers are trekking through New York’s Catskill Mountains to collect snowflake samples that could provide information on climate change and snow melt patterns. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21 pm Support Us

Yevgeny Roizman is the mayor of Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, and one of the country’s only politicians to speak out against the Kremlin. Mr. Roizman argues that President Vladimir Putin’s power consolidation has undercut the mayor’s ability to govern. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21 pm Support Us

UMBC became a household acronym after its win over the University of Virginia last Friday in the biggest upset in college basketball history. ‘I think we give hope to … people that feel like they are underdogs in their life,’ senior guard K.J. Maura said. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21… Read More

Turmoil at either end of a relationship is not necessarily conducive to a strategic partnership. But if the Saudis fear they may be losing a key White House ally in Jared Kushner, they are cheered by the prospect of Mike Pompeo as secretary of State. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:21 pm… Read More

President Trump’s soon-to-be implemented tariffs on steel and aluminum are driving up the cost of farm equipment, and could lead to retaliation from other countries against US agricultural exports, at a time when farmers are already being squeezed by historic low prices for crops. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:06 pm Support… Read More

Among high-income countries, the US accounts for 91 percent of firearms deaths for children up to age 14, according to a new Pediatrics report. Several research projects are taking stock of the effects of firearms on children – and also the factors that may boost their resiliency. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018… Read More

The prosecution of a former president on corruption reflects a global trend among many democracies to end impunity and ensure equality of law. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:06 pm Support Us

Despite efforts to debunk the falsehood, the notion of ‘Irish slaves’ continues to circulate online, clouding discussions about racism and further complicating relations between Irish-Americans and African-Americans. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:06 pm Support Us

An Associated Press review of bill activity in state legislatures before and after the Parkland, Fla., shooting shows that gun control legislation continues to strictly fall along party lines. This year, gun control bills are unlikely to pass in states beyond Florida. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 2:06 pm Support Us

Seven-term Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, one of the last remaining anti-abortion Democrats in the House, is being challenged in Tuesday’s primary by a more liberal newcomer. It’s one of many intra-party fights between the party’s energized left wing and those who say Democrats must move toward the center to recapture control of Congress. Full… Read More

If music is the universal language, the violin speaks many of its dialects. In a documentary, classically trained American-Israeli violinist Daniel Hoffman takes us on his quest to learn more of them. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 1:51 pm Support Us

Many of the world’s established democracies are showing strains, and India is no exception. But the world’s largest democracy also offers a portrait of a remarkably diverse, complex society resisting some antidemocratic pressures. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 1:51 pm Support Us

The Cleveland Indians will no longer display ‘Chief Wahoo’ on team uniforms or in their home stadium starting in 2019. But fans will still be allowed to buy and wear the logo, stirring a long-simmering debate over the use of Native American sports mascots. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 1:51 pm Support Us

A library on wheels, the blue bus of Kabul is giving children in war-torn Afghanistan the opportunity to read. The initiative is a step toward reducing the country’s 62 percent illiteracy rate. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 1:51 pm Support Us

Tributes to the British scientist continue to roll in, noting how his humble search for truth inspired others, especially at a time of ‘fake news’ and misinformation. Full Story Here CS Monitor March 19, 2018 1:51 pm Support Us

Neuronal synapse formation and remodeling are essential to central nervous system (CNS) development and are dysfunctional in neurodevelopmental diseases. Innate immune signals regulate tissue remodeling in the periphery, but how this affects CNS synapses is largely unknown. Here, we show that the interleukin-1 family cytokine interleukin-33 (IL-33) is produced by developing astrocytes and is developmentally… Read More

Reductions in global fishing pressure are needed to end overfishing of target species and maximize the value of fisheries. We ask whether such reductions would also be sufficient to protect non–target species threatened as bycatch. We compare changes in fishing pressure needed to maximize profits from 4713 target fish stocks—accounting for >75% of global catch—to… Read More

Topological insulators are phases of matter characterized by topological edge states that propagate in a unidirectional manner that is robust to imperfections and disorder. These attributes make topological insulator systems ideal candidates for enabling applications in quantum computation and spintronics. We propose a concept that exploits topological effects in a unique way: the topological insulator… Read More

Huang and Xu argue that the cyclo-N5– ion in (N5)6(H3O)3(NH4)4Cl we described in our report is theoretically unfavorable and is instead protonated. Their conclusion is invalid, as they use an improper method to assess the proton transfer in a solid crystal structure. We present an in-depth experimental and theoretical analysis of (N5)6(H3O)3(NH4)4Cl that supports the… Read More

The successful incorporation of active proteins into synthetic polymers could lead to a new class of materials with functions found only in living systems. However, proteins rarely function under the conditions suitable for polymer processing. On the basis of an analysis of trends in protein sequences and characteristic chemical patterns on protein surfaces, we designed… Read More

Diphthamide biosynthesis involves a carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction catalyzed by a radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzyme that cleaves a carbon-sulfur (C–S) bond in SAM to generate a 3-amino-3-carboxypropyl (ACP) radical. Using rapid freezing, we have captured an organometallic intermediate with an iron-carbon (Fe–C) bond between ACP and the enzyme’s [4Fe-4S] cluster. In the presence of the substrate… Read More

Mammalian physiology exhibits 24-hour cyclicity due to circadian rhythms of gene expression controlled by transcription factors that constitute molecular clocks. Core clock transcription factors bind to the genome at enhancer sequences to regulate circadian gene expression, but not all binding sites are equally functional. We found that in mice, circadian gene expression in the liver… Read More

A new study on the timescale of plant evolution has concluded that the first plants to colonize the Earth originated around 500 million years ago — 100 million years earlier than previously thought. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 8:07 pm Support Us

A new study on the timescale of plant evolution has concluded that the first plants to colonize the Earth originated around 500 million years ago — 100 million years earlier than previously thought. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 8:07 pm Support Us

A thousand-year-old tooth has provided the first clear genetic evidence that the Taíno — the indigenous people whom Columbus first encountered on arriving in the New World — still have living descendants today, despite erroneous claims in some historical narratives that these people are extinct. The findings are likely to have particular resonance for people… Read More

New research shows that the loss of biodiversity can increase the risk of ‘extinction cascades’, where an initial species loss leads to a domino effect of further extinctions. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 7:44 pm Support Us

Cardiologists are in agreement that generally exercise in the mountains is a very good way to prevent or reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless what about those people who have a pre-existing cardiovascular condition? Under what circumstances is it safe for them to reside or holiday in high mountainous regions, and what rules should… Read More

Problem-solving powers may help to explain why grey squirrels have taken over from native red squirrels in the United Kingdom, according to new research. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 7:24 pm Support Us

A new study shows that both moderate and severe exacerbations in COPD patients are associated with a decline in their physical activity level. Researchers observed that the acute drop in physical activity during a COPD exacerbation has an important and lasting effect. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 7:14 pm Support Us

Overfishing and environmental change have pushed abalone species on the US west coast to the edge of extinction. Now a fatal disease threatens their recovery. But new research shows that some abalone species may be less susceptible to the disease than others, providing initial data that could help map where abalone could survive and thrive… Read More

New research has revealed the tiny minority of fishers who poach on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) think the illegal practice is justified, because they believe ‘everyone else is doing it.’ Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:54 pm Support Us

A new study finds early dermatology consultation for presumptive cellulitis can improve patient outcomes, reduce costs and reduce hospitalization. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:44 pm Support Us

Punishing a wrongdoer may be more rewarding to the brain than supporting a victim. That is one suggestion of new research which measured the brain activity of young men while they played a ‘justice game.’ Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:37 pm Support Us

New evidence might dismay those who have chosen sides in the low-fat versus low-carb diet debate. Cutting either carbs or fats shaves off excess weight in about the same proportion, according to the study. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:37 pm Support Us

Scientists have identified four viruses that can produce insulin-like hormones that are active on human cells. The discovery brings new possibilities for revealing biological mechanisms that may cause diabetes or cancer. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:37 pm Support Us

The genetic cause behind a strain of typhoid’s resistance to five classes of antibiotics has been uncovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. There is currently a major outbreak of typhoid fever in Pakistan. This study shows the typhoid strain causing the outbreak acquired an additional piece of DNA to become… Read More

There’s nothing wrong with being a little weird. Because we think of psychological disorders on a continuum, we may worry when our own ways of thinking and behaving don’t match up with our idealized notion of health. But some variability can be healthy and even adaptive, say researchers, even though it can also complicate attempts… Read More

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of the most distant supernova ever detected — a huge cosmic explosion that took place 10.5 billion years ago, or three-quarters the age of the Universe itself. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:24 pm Support Us

A person is more likely to get infected by HIV through anal intercourse than vaginal, but no one knows quite why. A new study shows that infection sites could affect the immune system’s response to a virus and the way the virus spreads through the body. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:24… Read More

Researchers theoretically proposed the existence of density limit for hole boring by laser light on matter. They derived the maximum plasma density as a function of laser intensity, where hole boring stops and plasma blowout occurs. Theory and simulation of an ultra-high-pressure plasma state, wherein plasma’s density pushes light back in the direction of the… Read More

Nitrate deposits in the Arctic remains high even after the turn of the century, despite environmental policies adopted by neighboring countries in the late 20th century to cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:14 pm Support Us

Very long-chain lipids in the most superficial layer of the tear film cause severe dry eye disease when they were shortened in mice — a result that could help develop new drugs for the disease. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:14 pm Support Us

Researchers can now remove a common anxiety drug from recycled water and wastewater, using low-cost titanium dioxide nanofibers. In cities running out of water, removing pharmaceuticals from wastewater in a simple, low cost way is becoming a priority. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:14 pm Support Us

Protein nanofibers often have outstanding properties such as a high stability, biodegradability, or antibacterial effect. Artificially creating these fibers is not easy, much less assigning them specific functions. That and how fibers with new properties can be successfully created is now being reported by materials scientists in a new study. Full Story Here Science Daily… Read More

Many chemical processes run so fast that they are only roughly understood. To clarify these processes, researchers have now developed a methodology with a resolution of quintillionths of a second. The new technology stands to help better understand processes like photosynthesis and develop faster computer chips. Full Story Here Science Daily February 20, 2018 6:14… Read More

A new paper is the first to look at 1,000 years of English development and detect the kinds of algorithms that human minds have used to extend existing words to new senses of meaning. This kind of ‘reverse engineering’ of how human language has developed could have implications for natural language processing by machines. Full… Read More

Nitrate in groundwater and drinking water, which primarily comes from fertilisers used in the agricultural production, has not only been subject to decades of environmental awareness — it has also been suspected of increasing the risk of cancer. The largest epidemiological study ever carried out in this area now shows that there is a correlation… Read More

Fake news is everywhere, but why we believe it is still unclear. Psychologists suggest that valuing our identity more than our accuracy is what leads us to accept incorrect information that aligns with our political party’s beliefs. This value discrepancy can explain why high-quality news sources are no longer enough–and understanding it can help us… Read More

Adult male mice lacking a gene linked to intellectual disability have trouble completing and remembering mazes, with no changes in social or repetitive behavior, according to new research. This animal model provides a new way to study the role of this gene in learning and memory and provides a rodent model of pure intellectual disability.… Read More

Researchers have unlocked the genetic code behind some of the brightest and most vibrant colors in nature. The article is the first study of the genetics of structural color — as seen in butterfly wings and peacock feathers — and paves the way for genetic research in a variety of structurally colored organisms. Full Story… Read More

A new login authentication approach could improve the security of current biometric techniques that rely on video or images of users’ faces. Known as Real-Time Captcha, the technique uses a unique ‘challenge’ that’s easy for humans — but difficult for attackers who may be using machine learning and image generation software to spoof legitimate users.… Read More

Understanding an ecosystem means following changes in the abundances and identities of the species present as the clock ticks. The BioTIME database should help. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 5:33 pm Support Us

The country’s cybercrime efforts are all seemingly state-sponsored and steal money that is then used to fund its cash-strapped government — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 9:49 am Support Us

Greater swings in dry and wet spells makes grass growth difficult, a challenge for pasturelands around the world — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 9:34 am Support Us

The new Center for Humane Technology aims to lead the fight against society’s obsession with the Web, apps and social media—but it may just add to the confusion — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 7:48 am Support Us

It might seem like a no-brainer to inform the authorities and potential victims if a patient threatens violence, but it’s not that simple — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 7:34 am Support Us

Machines that learn like children provide deep insights into how the mind and body act together to bootstrap knowledge and skills — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 7:18 am Support Us

A recent study suggests pesticides in produce may interfere with your chances of getting pregnant. Let’s explore its findings — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 6:48 am Support Us

Most Americans would probably be thrilled to learn extraterrestrials (intelligent or not) exist. Other nationalities beg to differ — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 6:19 am Support Us

We like other people in part because they think the way we do—but we may also think alike as a result of being friends — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 20, 2018 5:34 am Support Us

Announcing the winners of the XPRIZE Ocean Initiative’s challenge to turn data into much-needed ocean services — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 19, 2018 4:04 pm Support Us

David N. Schwartz talk about his latest book, The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the Nuclear Age. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 19, 2018 3:49 pm Support Us

By eavesdropping on the calls of blue whales, researchers hope to get a more accurate picture of the massive mammals’ distribution and abundance. Christopher Intagliata reports. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 19, 2018 9:48 am Support Us

If you suffer a heart attack in a crowd, you would be less likely to get help than if there were only one or two people around you. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 19, 2018 7:33 am Support Us

The data-driven technique can perpetuate inequality, but if done right, it also presents an unprecedented opportunity to advance social justice — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com Full Story Here Sciam February 19, 2018 7:04 am Support Us

Sometimes I'm inclined to believe that there is some liberal conspiracy to spread #fakeNews. For instance, you're telling me these people are having affairs outside of marriage? I don't even believe they're having sex outside of bloodline.